1. serve2. return of serve3. slice--it is useless4. volley/net game--he needs to be more confident at being at the net to close/end points.

of these limitations listed, he can probably do without 2 and still dominate. first, he does not really need a big serve. if he could return with consistency and be somewhat aggressive with his return game, it will take a lot of pressure off that weak serve of his.

secondly, if you get to go in on your own terms, you dont have to be able to volley like roger or edberg.

he absolutely must develop a more effective slice and he has to find a way to return better. practice makes perfect.

Is this the new beginning of rafa's revival? Do u feel that this defeat of his today at the hands of ferrero in rome will spur him up n ll lead to uncontrollable aggression(which had taken a back step really in the last couple of yrs) from him? Will he use this anger n frustration towards improvement of his game on other surfaces? Can this defeat be an eye-opener for him?

« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by shankar21 »

Logged

Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

Everyone loses sooner or later, he lost last year and still dominated. The real question will be, can someone knock him out at the FO!

This will affect his ranking points I assume?

knocking him out at RG is next to impossible........i think we shud stop thinking abot rankings n all.......it's about accomplishments.......i wud be happy for rafa if he wins wimby this yr, becoming no.1 doesn't matter much coz he's gonna get there anyway if he concentrates on winning.......

Logged

Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

yeah sure. it can also be the new beginning of his fall, we'll just wait and see. when Roger loses a match it turns into this whole "Is this the new beginning of Roger's decline where people gain confidence to beat him everywhere and his reign's over" thing.

Nadal's still the man to beat and I don't think this loss is all of a going to turn him into a super super superhuman sorta thing because he still is pretty much unbeatable. Wasn't there some injury business going on today? I am sure there must have been, if not injury, tiredness.

yeah sure. it can also be the new beginning of his fall, we'll just wait and see. when Roger loses a match it turns into this whole "Is this the new beginning of Roger's decline where people gain confidence to beat him everywhere and his reign's over" thing.

Nadal's still the man to beat and I don't think this loss is all of a going to turn him into a super super superhuman sorta thing because he still is pretty much unbeatable. Wasn't there some injury business going on today? I am sure there must have been, if not injury, tiredness.

Look at the picture near the top: if he can play normally on that foot, he would be superman.

Look at the picture near the top: if he can play normally on that foot, he would be superman.

Actually superman wouldnt have trouble with that foot... he can fly. I know him so I can tell.

You mustn't know him very well, because you should know that Superman heals immediately. Unless there is kryptonite around him...

Well in the first place he wouldnt be hurt unless he was cut with sharp kryptonite. So we can assume some chips would still be under his skin. But given the small quantity of it he would be able to fly, play against Ferrero and even win the match in 2 sets. The only real difference would be Superman would never pick his arse as he wears his underwear over his pants.

yeah sure. it can also be the new beginning of his fall, we'll just wait and see. when Roger loses a match it turns into this whole "Is this the new beginning of Roger's decline where people gain confidence to beat him everywhere and his reign's over" thing.

Nadal's still the man to beat and I don't think this loss is all of a going to turn him into a super super superhuman sorta thing because he still is pretty much unbeatable. Wasn't there some injury business going on today? I am sure there must have been, if not injury, tiredness.

Look at the picture near the top: if he can play normally on that foot, he would be superman.

Look at the picture near the top: if he can play normally on that foot, he would be superman.

Actually superman wouldnt have trouble with that foot... he can fly. I know him so I can tell.

You mustn't know him very well, because you should know that Superman heals immediately. Unless there is kryptonite around him...

Well in the first place he wouldnt be hurt unless he was cut with sharp kryptonite. So we can assume some chips would still be under his skin. But given the small quantity of it he would be able to fly, play against Ferrero and even win the match in 2 sets. The only real difference would be Superman would never pick his arse as he wears his underwear over his pants.

Actually, Superman can be hurt/cut without the use of kryptonite. It just takes a huge amount of force to do so. Also, he doesn't heal immediately....it takes a little bit of time for him to heal which is a lot faster than humans like batman! Also, in extreme cases where he gets beaten real bad (see Superman vs. Doomsday), it can take a very long time to heal. I am a huge fan of Superman, so that is why I know this.

agreed. but why does Fed never have any injuries of any kind? also how come he never complains about the schedule?

he just goes about his business of constantly developing his fitness and forever trying to improve his game. even at his level--which is the highest of all levels--he has found a way to improve his serve and his backhand. and at nearly 27, he is the fittest in the game and he could just get by on efficiency alone if he had to.

Nadal just has to do something about his fitness or he is dropping like a rock in rankings within a year. its obvious he is not ahead of the pack in terms of actual ,concrete improvements in his game. i have seen no improvement in his game over the course of last 12-15 months or so.

these blisters and knee bandages and the like are all manifestations of declined fitness and lack of improvement in his game. he is spending more time than ever before to win his matches.

To me this goes back to the musculature. Federer is lean. He has a solid core, and lean wiry strong muscles. Nadal on the other hand is very muscular. Federer's strokes are fairly easy on the body while Nadal's are not. Add to that Nadal's muscles are a detriment. Wasted weight, and an undue strain on ligaments. Tennis players should be lean, not muscular. That's been my feeling all along.

the only thing that comes to my mind when i hear or see rafa getting injured is the amount of hardcourt tennis that he plays.to me these injuries of his r all due to his heavy participation on those no cushion,stressful hardcourts.......well, it might look funny but what i feel is,all the reasons y rafa gets injured so frequently boil down to one serious thing n that's the flat forehand that he's reluctant to use on hards.......one flat forehand of his ll prevent him from running for 3 to 4 extra shots every point which helps his body enormously over a length of time.......added to his voes, he is playing doubles in every HC tourney which can be reasoned as his dedication towards olympic medal for his country.now that hell of a lot tennis.....i m sure he won't play doubles again after olympics.

as far as HC tennis is concerned,i ve always felt that rafa shud only take part in all the masters events n GS with the exemption of chennai open coz he needs a warm up before a GS like oz open, not that coz i m an indian .......that ll keep him fresh n ll make him raring to go.......too much of anything is good for nothing.maybe he wudn't ve cared much about his HC defeats but definitely this defeat of his ll remind him the gruelling amount of tennis that he's playing........

Logged

Marian Vajda to Novak Djokovic, "I saw you beat that man like I never saw no man get beat before, and the man KEPT COMING AFTER YOU! Now we don't need no man like that in our lives."

the only thing that comes to my mind when i hear or see rafa getting injured is the amount of hardcourt tennis that he plays.to me these injuries of his r all due to his heavy participation on those no cushion,stressful hardcourts.......well, it might look funny but what i feel is,all the reasons y rafa gets injured so frequently boil down to one serious thing n that's the flat forehand that he's reluctant to use on hards.......one flat forehand of his ll prevent him from running for 3 to 4 extra shots every point which helps his body enormously over a length of time.......added to his voes, he is playing doubles in every HC tourney which can be reasoned as his dedication towards olympic medal for his country.now that hell of a lot tennis.....i m sure he won't play doubles again after olympics.

as far as HC tennis is concerned,i ve always felt that rafa shud only take part in all the masters events n GS with the exemption of chennai open coz he needs a warm up before a GS like oz open, not that coz i m an indian .......that ll keep him fresh n ll make him raring to go.......too much of anything is good for nothing.maybe he wudn't ve cared much about his HC defeats but definitely this defeat of his ll remind him the gruelling amount of tennis that he's playing........

Lots of players play on hard courts and don't have the same issues. Yes his effort level is a step above most, but is it that much more that he can't stay healthy where others can?He has to play on hards because that's almost half the rankings points. In addition 4 of the MS and one GS are on hards. He has to show up for the MS tourneys as they are mandatory, and he has to do well in them to maintain his ranking. Not playing on hard courts is not an option.

Logged

Is a tree as a rocking horseAn ambition fulfilledAnd is the sawdust jealous?I worry about these things .Kevin Godley & Lol Crème (I Pity Inanimate Objects)